Shorter
Tour but seven stages promise thrills
21/1/2009,
The Star
PETALING JAYA: The 14th edition
of the Tour of Langkawi (LTdL) will not be short of excitement
even though the championships have been shortened to seven stages
for the first time since the inaugural event in 1996 because of
financial constraints.
The chief operating officer, Datuk
Naim Mohamad, said that the shorter route compared to nine stages
last year would not take the competitive edge out of the riders.
The Tour, beginning in Putrajaya
on Feb 9 and ending in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 15 with the traditional
criterium race at Dataran Merdeka, will feature 20 teams and it
will cover a total distance of 1,029.9km.
“The seven-stage format suits
all the teams well,” said Naim at a sponsorship-handing
over ceremony witnessed by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri
Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Palace of the Golden Horses in Seri
Kembangan yesterday.
“We have climbs in almost
all the stages this time around. The routes will be even more
challenging for the riders.
“There is no doubt about
the quality of the races. The LTdL is graded again as a hors class
(2.HC) race by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and still
maintains its status as one of the most prestigious championships
in Asia.”
Naim thanked the various sponsors
who came forward to make the event a success but they were still
short of about RM14mil needed to stage the Tour.
“We have cut down on many
aspects of the costing and we expect to spend at least RM2mil
on each stage,” said Naim.
Among the sponsors of the Tour
are Genting Bhd, Proton, Telekom Malaysia, Nestle, Le Run and
German car manufacturer Volkswagen.
Ismail said that the government
had chipped in RM7.5mil and he hoped to see more government-linked
companies (GLCs) come forward to support the Tour.
All five continents will be represented
in the Tour and nine of the teams are professional outfits.
Four are from the Pro Tour circuit
— Garmin-Slipstream of the United States, Ag2r and Bouygues
Telecom from France and Fuji-Servetto of Spain.
The five pro continental teams
are Diquigiovanni (Venezuela), CSF (Ireland), Vorarlberg-Corratec
(Austria), ISD (Italy) and the Swiss-based Cervelo Test Team of
Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre.
Oceania and Africa will be represented
by the Australian and South African national teams.
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